News

Frideswide Square revamp set to begin

Work for the Frideswide Square redevelopment in Oxford will start on Monday, September 1, Oxfordshire County Council has confirmed.

The first part of the work will be the installation of a mini-roundabout.

Work on changes to Becket Street, Osney Lane and the Worcester Street junction with George Street will start later that month and finish early December.

The redesign of the square – which involves removing the traffic lights and installing three roundabouts – is expected to run until December 2015.

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Well, we can always hope that a major grocers will open up on that parade once it has been tidied up.

It is a pretty good location if you consider that, once the Marylebone and E-W route opens and the station is rebuilt, up to 5000 passengers could be using the station during in a 15 minute peak period.

[quote][p][bold]Isawyoucoming[/bold] wrote:
Where are all the dirty shops in that photo.[/p][/quote]Well, we can always hope that a major grocers will open up on that parade once it has been tidied up.
It is a pretty good location if you consider that, once the Marylebone and E-W route opens and the station is rebuilt, up to 5000 passengers could be using the station during in a 15 minute peak period.Andrew:Oxford

Judging by the position of The Royal Oxford, this picture is drawn from the junction of Becket Street looking East. The trees and pathway are taking up what is now 2 lanes of road, so where is the improvement for traffic flow going to come from with reduced carriageways?

Judging by the position of The Royal Oxford, this picture is drawn from the junction of Becket Street looking East. The trees and pathway are taking up what is now 2 lanes of road, so where is the improvement for traffic flow going to come from with reduced carriageways?The New Private Eye

Roundabouts to keep traffic moving - well to next set of Oxford roadworks. Oh, or St Giles Fair, of course. And just how are the large numbers of pedestrians heading to/from the station and Oxford, going to cross the roads? Grow wings?

Roundabouts to keep traffic moving - well to next set of Oxford roadworks. Oh, or St Giles Fair, of course. And just how are the large numbers of pedestrians heading to/from the station and Oxford, going to cross the roads? Grow wings?Beechtree

THere aren't any 'dirty shops' on the Square are there? It's mainly take-aways, plus a barber shop and newsagent.

It's true that six lanes of traffic are being reduced to two, so I share the concerns about how it will all flow. In theory taking out the traffic lights will improve matters, but in reality you can only accommodate so much traffic; if levels remain as high as they are now it will always be slow through the square.

Finally to be pedantic there will be four roundabouts on the Square not three - one at the end of Becket St, one at the end of Park End St, one at the end of Hythe Bridge St and one between the last two.

THere aren't any 'dirty shops' on the Square are there? It's mainly take-aways, plus a barber shop and newsagent.
It's true that six lanes of traffic are being reduced to two, so I share the concerns about how it will all flow. In theory taking out the traffic lights will improve matters, but in reality you can only accommodate so much traffic; if levels remain as high as they are now it will always be slow through the square.
Finally to be pedantic there will be four roundabouts on the Square not three - one at the end of Becket St, one at the end of Park End St, one at the end of Hythe Bridge St and one between the last two.King Joke

Traffic levels drop significantly during school holidays, although both these sets of roadworks will continue into Sep. If County contractors worked 16/7 instead of 7/5 it could all be finished by the time the schools go back.

Traffic levels drop significantly during school holidays, although both these sets of roadworks will continue into Sep. If County contractors worked 16/7 instead of 7/5 it could all be finished by the time the schools go back.King Joke

King Joke wrote:
THere aren't any 'dirty shops' on the Square are there? It's mainly take-aways, plus a barber shop and newsagent.

It's true that six lanes of traffic are being reduced to two, so I share the concerns about how it will all flow. In theory taking out the traffic lights will improve matters, but in reality you can only accommodate so much traffic; if levels remain as high as they are now it will always be slow through the square.

Finally to be pedantic there will be four roundabouts on the Square not three - one at the end of Becket St, one at the end of Park End St, one at the end of Hythe Bridge St and one between the last two.

quite how 2 lanes will work when there is the need for that just for buses is beyond me, stagecoach obviously don't control this project

[quote][p][bold]King Joke[/bold] wrote:
THere aren't any 'dirty shops' on the Square are there? It's mainly take-aways, plus a barber shop and newsagent.
It's true that six lanes of traffic are being reduced to two, so I share the concerns about how it will all flow. In theory taking out the traffic lights will improve matters, but in reality you can only accommodate so much traffic; if levels remain as high as they are now it will always be slow through the square.
Finally to be pedantic there will be four roundabouts on the Square not three - one at the end of Becket St, one at the end of Park End St, one at the end of Hythe Bridge St and one between the last two.[/p][/quote]quite how 2 lanes will work when there is the need for that just for buses is beyond me, stagecoach obviously don't control this projectThe New Private Eye

I think the idea is that traffic on the Oxpens-Botley flow will use Beckett St, not Frideswide Sq, freeing up some capacity, and the roundabouts will free up some more by having higher capacity than traffic lights. It's still very optimistic, too optimistic in my view.

I think the idea is that traffic on the Oxpens-Botley flow will use Beckett St, not Frideswide Sq, freeing up some capacity, and the roundabouts will free up some more by having higher capacity than traffic lights. It's still very optimistic, too optimistic in my view.King Joke

Its not just the Frideswide Square plans that seem to make little provision for any volume of traffic, public transport, pedestrians or cyclists.

The station masterplan appears to have no taxi rank, no cycle parking, a much reduced short stay users car park, while the "bus interchange" is very small and appears to lack a bus entrance!

Meanwhile the plan is to divert all buses from Queen St through a maze of tight corners and junctions around the redeveloped Westgate.

Is someone 'aving a larff?

Its not just the Frideswide Square plans that seem to make little provision for any volume of traffic, public transport, pedestrians or cyclists.
The station masterplan appears to have no taxi rank, no cycle parking, a much reduced short stay users car park, while the "bus interchange" is very small and appears to lack a bus entrance!
Meanwhile the plan is to divert all buses from Queen St through a maze of tight corners and junctions around the redeveloped Westgate.
Is someone 'aving a larff?Patrick, Devon

The bus interchange is indeed small - watching the video suggests buses will pull up on Becket St too. I'm guessing local services, 3-road, 5-road etc will use Becket St and longer-distance stuff like the S3s will use the interchange.

The short stay and drop-off will be between the bus interchange and the Botley Rd. It's about time these were separated from the bus interchange, as currently bus operations are hampered by idiots dropping off in bus stops rather than the short-stay car park.

The problem with the Westgate is not the tight corners - these will be wide enough for two buses to pass on the corner comfortably - but that there will barely be enough kerb space on Castle St, Norfolk St and St Aldates to accommodate current service levels let alone increased services once the shopping centre opens. You are of course right that someone is having a bubble. It's John Lewis. They simply don't understand public transport and don't understand it needs space to operate. Phil Southall of Oxford Bus Co has been saying for months that it won't work. He is now the MD not just he Ops Director, so I suspect we'll be hearing more from him in future.

The bus interchange is indeed small - watching the video suggests buses will pull up on Becket St too. I'm guessing local services, 3-road, 5-road etc will use Becket St and longer-distance stuff like the S3s will use the interchange.
The short stay and drop-off will be between the bus interchange and the Botley Rd. It's about time these were separated from the bus interchange, as currently bus operations are hampered by idiots dropping off in bus stops rather than the short-stay car park.
The problem with the Westgate is not the tight corners - these will be wide enough for two buses to pass on the corner comfortably - but that there will barely be enough kerb space on Castle St, Norfolk St and St Aldates to accommodate current service levels let alone increased services once the shopping centre opens. You are of course right that someone is having a bubble. It's John Lewis. They simply don't understand public transport and don't understand it needs space to operate. Phil Southall of Oxford Bus Co has been saying for months that it won't work. He is now the MD not just he Ops Director, so I suspect we'll be hearing more from him in future.King Joke

alu355 wrote:
In case anyone missed it - the work is expected to finish in December 2015.
Add on the usual over-runs and there's a lot of traffic misery up ahead.

Soon after that, the railway bridge and road under it will be completely rebuilt. Get used to it folks.

[quote][p][bold]alu355[/bold] wrote:
In case anyone missed it - the work is expected to finish in December 2015.
Add on the usual over-runs and there's a lot of traffic misery up ahead.[/p][/quote]Soon after that, the railway bridge and road under it will be completely rebuilt. Get used to it folks.Patrick, Devon

livid99 wrote:
Fantastic timing. The Hinksey Hill nightmare will still be ongoing, and now this. The so called &quot;planners" really know how make life miserable for Oxford motorists.

The question has to be asked why are motorists driving through the city centre ? Obviously some people need to, but aside from that small minority, who in their right drives around the city centre?

[quote][p][bold]livid99[/bold] wrote:
Fantastic timing. The Hinksey Hill nightmare will still be ongoing, and now this. The so called "planners" really know how make life miserable for Oxford motorists.[/p][/quote]The question has to be asked why are motorists driving through the city centre ? Obviously some people need to, but aside from that small minority, who in their right drives around the city centre?andy1975